Why bumblebees need your help

Everyone loves bumblebees

Red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) (c) Nicholas Vereecken

Bumblebees are one of the most charming and attractive groups of insect in Britain. Their fluffy appearance and gentle, bumbling flight is a common feature of our summer gardens and wildflower meadows. Bumblebees also have a crucial role to play in pollinating many of our flowers and agricultural crops, such as raspberries and broad beans; and unlike other insect pollinators, they can be seen foraging out earlier and later in the day collecting nectar and pollen to feed their brood.

Bumblebees in decline

Despite their popular appeal, bumblebees have undergone a rapid decline in their range and population – at least nine species are of conservation concern, and one, the Short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus), has not been seen since 1989 and is presumed extinct. The reasons for the decline have been attributed to the loss of habitat from intensive agricultural farming, collateral pesticide damage, and insensitive development. The latter is especially true in the Thames Gateway area (London, south Essex and north Kent), where the construction of tens of thousands of new homes on brownfield sites is threatening to destroy large areas of flower-rich sites upon which bumblebees and other invertebrates depend. This could in time lead to further extinctions of British bumblebees. But all is not lost. Gardens, parks and brownfield sites continue to provide important habitats for bumblebees, especially if they are managed specifically for wildlife.